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Published: April 27th 2014
Cambodian Child Care
Big sister on the job I suspect!Phnom Penh presented itself as a relatively clean city, well laid out with wide streets. It was a surprise, as Cambodia is known as a poor country. Hoa discovered that the Royal Palace was closed for the morning so the agenda was rotated so we could go there in the afternoon.
Our Cambodian guide is called Tra and he loaded us onto a bus at the wharf to head firstly for the S21 Detention Centre (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) and then on to the Killing Fields. Pol Pot was educated (to Uni level without getting a degree) who shunned publicity but was obviously a leader of men with charisma. His plan for Cambodia was horrendous!
The S21 Detention Centre was a former school converted into a prison primarily to interrogate, torture and then kill non Khmer Rouge followers. Those targeted first were educated professionals, their families and friends. They were so hell bent on pain and torture that they modified buildings to stop prisoners from committing suicide (e.g. jump from landings on the first or second floor). The area is now basically a photographic display of the carnage caused on
these people by young brainwashed Khmer Rouge soldiers. Not everyone died but in total it is estimated that 2m people throughout Cambodia perished. Only the mind of a madman could conceive of such a sadistic political agenda. It is incomprehensible and we were all flabbergasted even though we new some of the details before coming here.
Most people did not die in the S21 but were ‘taken to another place’ purportedly for a new life. On arrival they were deceived, bashed over the head, had their necks and wrist slit and were covered with DDT to ensure they would die. Then they were dumped in mass graves. Children had their own mass grave next to a huge tree that was used by soldiers to smash their heads against by swinging them by their feet. Atrocious!
This all took place at an out of town Chinese graveyard that became The Killing Fields. There are 129 pits full of bodies and to be there and see them left us dumbfounded. There are a number of memorials on the site where there are hundreds of skulls on display. This is a place to visit and put the memory away at the
back of your mind because it is too horrible to contemplate. Let’s hope we don’t see anything like it again on this earth.
In the afternoon Tra bussed us to the Royal Palace and its grounds (435m x 425m). It reminded us of the Thai Royal Palace in Bangkok without the extensive gold decorations. The current King is not so popular but his great grandfather Sihinouk was revered by the people. He abdicated in 2004 for the second and final time and died in 2012. The compound contained some excellent buildings and monuments and it took an hour or so to see.
We moved on from the palace grounds to the central market where there were lots of bling and clothing and all of the foodstuffs. Having visited many markets we were keen to have a quick look around and then head back to the ship.
After drinks and a briefing, eight of us took a 15 minute walk along the esplanade to a restaurant called FCC (Foreign Correspondence Centre). It was a great night of Cambodian food and a few wines. We were home by 9.30 so after the traditional nightcap we went back to our
Anyone for fertile duck egg?
Look closely! A delicacy in Asia. cabin.
Friday 7th March It has been some time since the first issue of our travel blog was sent so today (this morning) Rhonda has gone off on a walking tour and I have been playing ‘blog catch up’.
The walking tour was just a one hour tour. It was a short 5-10 stroll from the Amalotus through the streets checking out the lifestyle of the locals. Barber shops where the chair was on the front verandah, food vendors on every corner and mothers tending little children sitting close to the footpath. The market was a typical local market except that red ants, pig’s heads and all sorts of fruit and vegetables were available. The market was the Sissowath Quay Market in central Phnom Penh. The area is very busy with coffee shops and restaurants surrounding it. On the way back there was a visit to the main Post Office of French Provincial architecture that was built during the French occupation.
After lunch it was time to do the visit to Ouknhatey village. The ship had pulled in close to the shore of an island and had tied up to the shore. We
Dancers
Rhonda was invited to dance with the cutie next to her. exited through the bow and onto twin planks reaching to the shore. After a climb up to the road we were taken to town by Tuk –Tuk. A Tuk Tuk is a ‘fifth wheeler’ except that it is attached to a motorbike and not a ute. It will carry four passengers. In anticipation of a dusty ride each one of us had been issued with a face mask. Boy it was hot underneath!
Ouknhatey is a poor village as our visit to the school proved. It is not often that the kids in Asia go off to school dirty but these kids were. However, if you saw their writing, you would be staggered at how neat and clean it is. The children only do four hours of school a day and the biggest problem is getting teachers to go to such a remote location. The kids were great and got a big buzz out of doing high fives with us.
After leaving the school, we went to a government run silk farm and weaving complex. It looked more like a tourist attraction than a viable operation but was very informative. Two bits of information were gleaned. Firstly, silk
Dog Statue
Note the flat section on the hind quarters. Khmer Rouge used it for sharpening knives to kill humans! Lots of sharpening ! worms are stir fried and eaten after the silk has been unwound from the cocoon. And secondly, as mentioned previously, the worms are killed before they emerge as moths. Needless to say that these things happen in reverse order.
Saturday 8th March This morning is a cruising morning. Sailing along the Mekong observing life on the river. There is an amazing array of vessels on the river. Since it flows down from China through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam over thousands of kilometres, there must be hundreds of thousands (maybe millions!) of boats of all kinds on that river at any one point in time. Although we didn’t attend, there was a napkin and towel folding demonstration as well as a Cambodian history session on board.
After lunch we disembarked to visit one of the few villages not destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. Angkor Ban was a peaceful village and we were able to visit a historical traditional Khmer house and see many other stilted houses as we passed through. It was very interesting to visit a school and observe the children doing their schoolwork. The writing in their schoolbooks was beautifully neat and very evenly
Cell
....and torture chamber. laid out. A school break occurred as we were leaving and the kids were very keen to test their English on us. They were very excited.
The group then moved on to a local Buddhist Temple where we were blessed in a ceremony and each had a woollen thong tied around our wrist by one of the monks. Apparently it is unlucky to remove the thong until it drops off. I hope that is not true as mine was inadvertently removed that night!
We returned to RV Amalotus and resumed our social activities during the evening. So spoilt!
Sunday 9th March The end of the cruise is in site. It has been great to leave the case unpacked and not have to meet early departure deadlines. Having said that, it is normal for us to wake fairly early. We really enjoyed the many sunrises (and sunsets) on the Mekong.
At 8.30am we climbed up the river bank to hop on a bus. We were in the Kampong Cham Province and were being transported to visit the twin holy mountains and the 13
th century Angkorian temple of Wat Nokor.
After lunch we climbed
Gymnasium Conversion
School gym apparatus converted to torture rack. hundreds of steps to visit Wat Hanchey a hilltop pagoda overlooking the Mekong and dating back to the 8
th century. Wat was an architectural style (Chenia Empire) that predated the Angkor style. The outlook over the river was very impressive.
Tonight the Captain invited us to the Saigon Lounge for a farewell cocktail. He introduced the crew and of course there was much joviality.
After dinner we met the usual suspects and lamented the end of a fantastic water based journey. I must confess that I was concerned that the trip could be a little boring. I couldn’t have been further from the truth.
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